In the summer of 1993, Bolton Wanderers paid £250,000 to sign Coyle, and his two year spell in England included promotion and a brief chance to play in the FA Premier League. However, in October 1995, a £400,000 transfer fee took him to Dundee United, where he was once again part of a promotion-winning side, scoring the winning goal in extra time in the second leg of the playoff against Partick Thistle.

Coyle's next moves were to Motherwell in January 1997, after a move to Hibernian fell through,[2] and then on to Dunfermline Athletic in March 1999. After losing his place in the Dunfermline team, he went on loan to Ross County prior to rejoining Airdrie in 2001. When they went into liquidation in 2002, Coyle joined Falkirk, being promoted to co-player-manager alongside John Hughes in 2003. After leaving this post he returned to Dundee United, primarily in a coaching capacity but also registering as a player. A lack of first team opportunities, however, led to him being loaned out to Airdrieonians' successors, Airdrie United, and this move was subsequently made on a permanent basis. He also took up the post of assistant manager to Sandy Stewart, who now acts as his assistant at Bolton.

He played in an emergency for Burnley Reserves on 9 April 2009, scoring with a lob in a 2-0 win against Accrington Stanley, helping them win the Reserve League title.[3] On 7 October, Coyle played again for Burnley Reserves in a 1-0 defeat to the Liverpool Reserves at Prenton Park.[4]

International

Despite being born in Scotland, Coyle was never picked for his country of birth. Because of his Irish ancestry, he was eligible to play for the Irish national team, and when he was offered a place in the squad, he accepted, earning one full international cap, in a friendly match played against Holland in Tilburg in April 1994. The match ended in a 1–0 victory for the Republic, with Coyle coming on to replace the goalscorer Tommy Coyne in the 83rd minute.[5]

In the same season, Saints also competed for the First Division championship and promotion to the SPL. On 30 March 2007, Coyle was awarded his second Scottish First Division Manager of the Month award of the 2006–07 season.[9] Saints took the title fight with Gretna to the final day of the season, and only a last minute goal by James Grady that gave Gretna victory at Ross County denied Saints promotion.

Coyle signed a one-year extension to his contract with St. Johnstone in July 2007, which would have kept him at the club until the end of the 2009–10 season.[10] In the early part of the 2007–08 season, Coyle led Saints to the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup. He accepted an offer from Burnley in the week before the final and left the club. Coyle's assistant Sandy Stewart took charge of the team for the final, which was won 3–2 against Dunfermline Athletic.

Burnley

On 21 November 2007, Burnley were granted permission to discuss their managerial vacancy with Coyle after a compensation fee was agreed with St. Johnstone.[11] He was appointed as Burnley's new manager the following day.[12] Coyle was given a reference by then Scotland manager Alex McLeish to support his Burnley application, and was also recommended by Bolton chairman Phil Gartside after they appointed Gary Megson as their new manager, as Coyle was Gartside's 2nd choice for the Bolton job after Megson. [13]

In September 2008, former England striker Andrew Cole credited Coyle as the reason he re-thought his decision to retire from playing at the end of the 2007-08 season. Cole spent three months on loan at Burnley that season, and Cole stated, "I went to Burnley and spoke to Owen and got a great vibe. He brought the best out of me and made me feel a lot younger than my age."[14]

He won the September 2008 Championship Manager of the Month award after leading Burnley to 5 wins and a draw, which included a League Cup win over Premier League side Fulham. In November Burnley secured a victory over Premier League side Chelsea on penalties at Stamford Bridge to put them in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. In the quarter-final, Burnley defeated Arsenal 2–0. They were knocked out in the semi-finals in dramatic fashion, after overturning a 4-1 deficit by winning 3-0 at Turf Moor after 90minutes. Burnley were little more than three minutes away from a famous win and a trip to Wembley, when Roman Pavlyuchenko scored to win the tie in extra time for Tottenham Hotspur.

After speculation linking Coyle with the vacant manger's position at Celtic, on 18 June 2009, Coyle signed a contract extension at Turf Moor to stay with Burnley until the end of the 2012-13 season.[16]

On 19 August 2009, Burnley defeated the defending Premier League champions Manchester United 1-0 at Turf Moor in their first top-flight match at home for 33 years.[17] They went on to win their first four home games with wins against Everton 1-0 Birmingham 2-1 and Sunderland 3-1 and lose their first 5 away games.

Bolton Wanderers

In January 2010 Bolton Wanderers expressed their interest in Owen Coyle becoming their new manager to replace the recently sacked Gary Megson, with Coyle expressing a desire to take up the position and leave Burnley.[18] The next day Burnley's chairman announced that Owen Coyle had left the club.[19] On 8 January 2010 it was announced that Coyle had been appointed as manager of Bolton Wanderers.[20] His first game in charge was a 2–0 home defeat to Arsenal.[21] He achieved his first win on 23rd January, 2010, 2-0 in the FA Cup 4th Round at home to Sheffield United and achieved his first league victory against former club Burnley, 1-0 on 26th January 2010. [22] He achieved his first away victory at the club on 6th March 2010, 2-1 at West Ham United. His first signing for the club was the winger Vladimir Weiss who he received on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season. He also signed Stuart Holden from MLS side Houston Dynamo on a short term contract and signed Arsenal's Jack Wilshere on a loan deal to the end of the season.